Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-06-11
MEXICAN oLLAPODRIDA.
PULQUE, THE BEVERAGE INVENT.
ED BY PAPAUIZIS, A. D. $50.
Eighty Thousand Gallons Per Diem
Now Used at the Capital City
"Beggars' Day" in Mexico.
SPECIAL REooRD-UNIoN Correspondence
Cry or MFxIco Nav Of 1897

NAAA VI SlEAiCOt May Il, 1901.
Everybody has heard of pulque, the
national beverage in this portion of the
Torld-the fermented milk of that species
OF caci known to Northerners as the cent
ury plant or aloe (1gare Aaericana), here
called maguey. Although there are more
than thirty thousand licensed pulque shops
in the City of Mexico alone-besides innu-
merable booths, stalls and bar-rooms.
where that and other beverages are dis
pensed-and although the popular drink
costs bat a penny schooner" or two
cents per quart, the shops are all profita-
bic. Very little pulque is sold at whole
sale, as most Mexicans who make bust
ness Of cultivating maguey maintain their
Own shops for retailing it. A certain we'll
known aristocrat of this city, who rides in
his carriage and is welcomed among the
magnates of the land, has five pulquerias
from which he is said to derive the neat
little income of $4,000 per annum. Ac.
cording to official statistics a little more
than eighty thousand gallons of puluue
are SOLD every day in the Mexican capital.
and nearly double that amount on SIM
days and Saints days. Three special
trains, laden with nothing but pulque. run
daily into the City of Mexico from the
nearby plains of Apam and Otumba
where much maguey is cultivated. From
this industry alone the Federal Govern
meDt derives revenue of a thousand
dollars per diem in the way of duties. and
The railroads an equal amount for trans
portation of the same.
What a field is this for the temperance
crusaders But the crusader would do
better to mind his own affairs, or TO turn
his attention elsewhere, for pulaue is not
only one of the most healthy and harmless
OF beverages, but is enc of the few bless
lngs which the poor CT Mexico enjoy. and
heaven knows their comforts are few
enough. Being not at all heavy in its
effects, the worst abuse of the g blessing"
LEAVES NO HEADACHE BEHIND.
But serves only to intensity the gallantrv
of the guzzer, making him sing and dance
tlll the sleepy stage comes on, showing his
white teeth in continual laughter and haul
ing of his ragged sombrero to passing
ladles with the most respectful salams.
Two cents worth ofpulque will render the
poorest peasant happier than King.
while five cents worth will secure him the
honor OF being escorted by men much
higher IN the social scale than himself (the
pohce) to the nearest cdrceL and an engage
ment 70 work for the Government a fort
night OF so, to begin when he awakes next
day, with beans and tortillas provided. AS
may be inferred, the Government has no
lack OF laborers on these easy terms, and
finds no difficulty in thus keeping The
streets well paved and similar public du-
ties performed
While in moist climates one may imbibe
considerable quantities of the usual iptoxi-
oants with comparative IMMUNITY, in these
higher attitudes of the tropics a much
smaller dose is surprisingly harmful. And
right here permit me to add that some I'M
fortunate Americans who have fallen into
disgrace because of undue conyiyialitv at
the Mexican capital, really deserve COM
mlseration rather than the contumely that
mas been heaped upon them. In most
cases they were the victims of ignorance on
their own part, or of sly practical Jokes
peTTpetrated by the Mexicans, who, however
pohte they may appear, are at heart ieal-
Gus of all Americans and delight to mt
them at disadvantage. The same beyer-
age which gentlemen may use socially in
the North with no i'll effects, if partaken
here IN equal measure, first exhilarates the
lmbiber beyond all account, and then
leaves him for days in a state of utter stu
pldity. Most foreigners learn this only by
sad experience, and the "gilded youth of
me Capltal nnu great pleasure IN
INITIATING A FRESH SUBJECT.
Especially if he comes in the interests of
his Government.
OF course my own opportunities for OBJ
serving this phase of Mexican life are some
what limited, but | am told by an Ameri-
can journalist (who certainly ought to
know that common whistles and BRAN
dies, which are never safe beverages in
countries ar hara III a, Ill
The Spaniards confine themselves to cognac
and sour wines, while Mexicans of the bet
ter class always have claret at their home
tables, with champagne, etc, for festive oc-
casions. American mixed drinks are not
popular, and in fact, are scarcely known
below the Rio Grande the scarcity of ice
making jullps, etc, out of the question in
most portions of the country. In the CITY
of Mexico ice may be procured but as it all
comes from the summit of Popocatapetl,
brought down on the backs of Indians 10
the nearest railway station, one does not
grumble at the price Of the CONCEALED moist
ure Fifteen cents per pound), but wisely
concludes 10 dispense with 1t.
Strangers in Mexico are at first greatly
troubled with thirst, as rapid evaporation
renders the mouth and throat extremely
dry. Water affords no relief, and is, with
all more dangerous to indulge in than any
talgleiool.' whose effects may be slept
oil. When we reflect that this old, old city
the ancient Tenochfitlan of the early
AZteCs-has been the site of a populous
city Tor more than six hundred years, and
during all that Tune. while empires have
arisen and fallen, dynasties decayed, and
myYiads have lived, died ard been buried
here, this cup-like hollow, high up in the
hills, has never been drained but, on the
contrary has been Grained into from all
The surrounding country. one has no dis
position 10 taste the waters of so vast 4
cbarnel house.
To be sure there is the living spring of
Chapuitepec still brought down 10 the capt
tai ny That old Spanish aqueduct Give
miles long and three hundred years oId),
but dnlesS you live close by Ouc Of lis few
fountains and see the sweet pure water
taken thereir0m. you can never be sure Of
what you are drinking The licensed car
rier, who peddles water from door to door
st the rate of jarrito-full for a tIaco "a cent
and half, is quite as likely to have
drawn il from some filthy well filled with
wAsHINGs FROM THE CAMPO sANro.
Other portions of this volcanic country
abound in such a conglomeration of min
erals aud chemicals as to render the water
extremely dangerous, and the traveller is
warned that to drink much of il may entail
incurable Ills.
But 10 return to our pulque II is as
amusing to note the efforts which newly
arrived Americans make to say the word
(which should be pronounced pool-kee) as
their grimaces in learning to like the LIQUID.
They generally begin by calling il "pulk, y
or at best poolk, and end by doing their
fnll share toward disposing of those eighty
thousand gallons per diem. In its best
state this sour-smelling stuff looks like
thick buttermilk, and tastes somewhat
nastier, if possible, than spoiled yeast. Its
beauties were discovered about the wear
800, by one Papautzin, a Toltec nobleman.
Tradition says that this ancient benefactor,
having succeeded in distilling a beverage
which to him seemed fit for the gods, be
called his only daughter. Xochitl (the
name signifying Flower of Tallen'), and
commissioned her as cup-bearer 10 the
King. The dusky girl was young and beau
fifal and so the roltec monarch not only
drank and praised the pulque, but straight
way feH II love with the maiden. lie
would 60, permit her to return 10 her peo-
pie, but for many years the old rascal kept
her a prisoner in his palace, though wars
ana bloodshed, and at last the disruption
of the empire, grew out of his infatuation.
1t seems 10 have been the same old story,
even at that early day, that wine and
xroroenn are the moving causes of mis-.